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Animated Atrocities 68
Description But who was phone!? Transcript Oh, this episode was a long time coming... And it's put me in a rather interesting position, because while I think that this episode is bad, it's got a reputation similar to One Coarse Meal and A Pal for Gary that, to be frank, I don't think that it's really earned. Let's get a few things out of the way. First of all, this episode is not a rip-off of One Coarse Meal, just because it contains a suicide joke. That's like saying that Squid's Day Off is a rip-off of Squeaky Boots because they both feature a character going insane. For an episode to be a rip-off, it needs to steal at least a majority of the previous plot. This episode does not. Secondly, this is not the Squidward's Suicide Creepypasta. The actual Creepypasta did not happen. It doesn't exist, and all it really is is an internet ghost story. And it's not a very good one. Any Creepypasta that uses the word "hyperrealistic" is crap on the spot. Rule of thumb. The episode may be referrencing the Creepypasta... Hell, it might be inspired by the Creepypasta, but it is not the Creepypasta. Now that that's out of the way, let's get into why this episode is actually bad, which is pretty different, because if you don't consider each of the shorts on the top of my top 10 lists, this is probably the closest atrocity to being good so far. I'm serious about this. Then again, the episode starts with our good old Patrick Star eating something out of the dumpster. And considering what I previously reviewed, that's not a good way to start off an episode. Anyway, we see SpongeBob going through some kind of book, and... huh, the similarities are striking. But seriously, this is a book that SpongeBob is happy to share. It's Spongebob's work book. He says that it's his happy book, and that's where all of his happiest memories have occured. SpongeBob asks Squidward what his happiest memory is, and apparently, Squidward doesn't have one. And he sounds pretty depressed inflecting on that. Alright, let's talk about continuity here. I understand that things don't carry over from episode to episode, and no matter where they end, the next episode will usually start from the very same beginning. There are loads of shows like that. Hell, Dexter's Laboratory pretty much ended each episode with the world blowing up. But here's the thing - that only goes so far. We've seen in numerous occasions, hinted or blatantly, that Squidward has had happy memories. Things like Band Geeks and House Fancy, hell, even Truth or Square. What I'm getting at is this: there's a difference between neglecting continuity and neglecting a piece of the character; a piece of the style and the formula. In most episodes, Squidward is... I guess glum. But this episode, he's literally clinically depressed. But saying that Squidward has never had a happiest memory is kinda like saying that SpongeBob doesn't know who his parents are. It's something we almost constantly see conflicting evidence against. It's one of those things, you know? It's not going against continuity, it's going against the structure of your show. I'll grant that they do this fairly often, you know, with SpongeBob supposed to be annoying, not blind to the world around him. Speaking of SpongeBob, he's actually worried about Squidward not having a happiest memory. It actually seems really... genuine. Squidward tells SpongeBob to leave him alone and then he starts crying. SpongeBob decides to help Squidward find a happiest memory. Unfortunately, that doesn't work. They go to a symphony, but Squidward gets hit in the eye. Yeah, please stop hitting people in the eyes with shit. It's not funny. They find Squidward's art in the museum. No reason is ever given except bringing Squidward into misery. An amazing artist comes by and destroys it with a flamethrower. Flamethrowers don't work underwater, there's no reason for the art to be here, blah blah blah you've heard me complain about this before. Oddly enough though, the episode entitled Fiasco was actually kind of decent. Next, SpongeBob takes Squidward in a balloon. But he's afraid of heights. All this time you're wondering why I didn't consider this episode for the Squidward Torture Porn list. Well, I don't really consider this episode a Squidward Torture Porn. You see, in episodes like Boating Buddies or Choir Boys, it's all about trying to tear Squidward down, make him miserable. In this episode, SpongeBob is actually trying to cheer Squidward up. And here's the thing; the important thing: I actually believe his intent. I don't know why. Maybe it's that not many of the bad things that happened to Squidward, most of them anyway, weren't caused by SpongeBob. At least in the beginning, where it was most important. At the end of this semi-montage, Squidward is defeated and he goes into his house. He is quite literally depressed, and this is probably the episode's biggest problem. They play the depression really seriously. Like, it's not funny or compelling or anything. It's just really sad. Two weeks later and we see that the house is in shambles. Squidward doesn't want to see SpongeBob. SpongeBob: Well, at least we know he's still alive. Those words send this episode miles ahead of episodes like A Pal for Gary or One Coarse Meal. They treat this serious issue as a serious issue. Novel concept, I know. But here's the thing. When you're dealing with a concept like this, jokes don't really work. It shatters the tone completely. I mean, The Mask is a great episode, but I wouldn't call it funny or anything. Yes, there were jokes, but there were very few and very far in between. I mean, this concept here wasn't beyond salvaging. An episode about SpongeBob trying to cheer Squidward up is a decent idea for a SpongeBob episode, especially if they went with the usual dynamic of Squidward simply being annoyed by SpongeBob. But let's get serious. Let's talk about what you guys want me to talk about here - the suicide jokes. Yes, there are two of them here. Squidward depressedly shoves his head into an oven only to pull out brownies. That's actually kind of easy to miss. I mean my little sister missed it the first time she watched it. So to make sure that you didn't miss it, they have him throw up a rope, only to pull up a bird cage, which my little sister didn't miss. So, let's talk about them. Because to be honest, they've done suicide jokes before. Mermaid Man and barnacle Boy IV, for example. No, not One Coarse Meal. That wasn't a joke, that was a part of the fucking plot. Why it works in other areas is because you know the character isn't going to end it, making it pretty much an exaggeration of the scenario. Here though, the joke is "Is Squidward gonna kill himself?", which, let's be completely honest here, isn't funny. When you're worried if a guy is actually going to kill himself, then it probably can't be funny. What do you guys want me to say? It doesn't work, it can't work, and everyone knows that it can't work. Anyway, Squidward gets a package, SpongeBob pops out and traps him in a box. Then he takes Squidward to a party full of paper mache SpongeBobs. Squidward tears them apart and claims that he's found a happiest memory. Okay, so final thoughts here. How would I make this episode work? Simple. Make it less depressing. Don't have Squidward literally in a depression that honestly didn't seem to have much of a catalyst, as if they're implying that Squidward really does have clinical depression at all times. He's constantly muttering how empty his life is, even before SpongeBob tries and fails to give him a happiest memory. Like I said, SpongeBob trying to cheer Squidward up after... I don't know, a bad day or something would've been fine. Taking it as seriously as they did, number one - it kind of comes out of nowhere. I mean, this episode starts with general shenanigans, so you're not expecting it to go full-fledged depressing. While nowhere near as tasteless as One Coarse Meal or A Pal for Gary or even Stuck in the Wringer, yeah, those suicide jokes shouldn't be here. I don't know what show could make "Oh, is he gonna kill himself?" work as a joke, but it certainly isn't this one. Honestly, it kinda feels like it's trying too hard to be shocking, which doesn't make any sense. One thing's for sure - SpongeBob doesn't really need to try that hard to be shocking. Trivia * He teased "Are You Happy Now?" in his atrocity review of "One Coarse Meal", his 13th atrocity. Roughly over 1 year later it became Atrocity #68. This mainly had to do with him not wanting to review the episode due to considering it suffering from the House Fancy Effect, a term he coined to refer to an otherwise decent work which is ruined by one bad or infamous momentnote . In the case of "Are You Happy Now?", he believes the premise is actually solid, but there are a couple of suicide jokes which make the entire thing uncomfortable to watch. *'Credits song': "It's A B Movie" from The Brave Little Toaster. * Almost, Mr. Enter describes Are You Happy Now? as the closest an Animated Atrocity has come to being good. Even when he discusses the problems that put it in Atrocity territory, he doesn't sound especially angry. He later does the same with the movie Doggy Poo, acknowledging that it was really well put together, and that he'd have been able to ignore the Audience-Alienating Premise and actually enjoy the movie if it weren't so incredibly melodramatic. * Originally this episode was for Animated atrocities 37 but was replaced with chicken little Category:Animated Atrocities Category:Season 3